Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Justification & Sanctification

I was doing some thinking today about why folks in my “tribe”
(Independent Christian churches) don’t seem to be as serious about studying the
Bible and growing in their faith. I asked a friend, “Why does
the average member come to church on Sunday?” He gave many answers, but did not
say, “They come because they are so grateful for what God has done for them,
and they want to worship with other believers and be
challenged/encouraged/taught from the Word.” He didn't say anything close to
that. He mentioned things like habit, pleasing one’s parents, tradition,
culture, etc. Granted, it was just one man’s opinion, but could he be right?

On the other hand, believers from other stripes
(specifically, the young, restless, & reformed crowd) seem to be much more
serious about the things I’m not observing so much among my peeps.

Then it dawned on me – the reformed crowd isn't as concerned
about justification (in their theology, that’s entirely God’s job), so they are free to focus primarily on their sanctification. Whereas the
Restoration Movement types tend to emphasize “getting saved”, to the neglect of
figuring out “what do I do after I’m saved?”

6 comments:

That's an interesting idea. I had never thought about the question before. I would add that the young reformed group places a heavy emphasis on doing everything for the glory of God. You hear it a lot in their circles.

I think a factor to consider is that many in the "young, restless, and reformed crowd" are ones who are new to their faith. A lot of folks who are a part of Restoration churches have a long legacy of family faith and unfortunately, if left unchecked, that can be a perfect breeding ground for complacency. People become used to the idea that growing up, I went to church and that's just what you do. So, they pass that on to their kids and the cycle repeats.

It's sad but often true a lot of the proverbial workers who went out early in the field have kind of forgotten the whole point of the master's calling.